Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Warday  By  cover art

Warday

By: Whitley Strieber, James Kunetka
Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Five years after a "limited" nuclear war, two survivors journey across America. They - and you - will discover what is left of our way of life, the depth of the devastation, and the hopes of a new society desperately struggling to be born.

©1984 Walker & Collier (P)2015 David N. Wilson

What listeners say about Warday

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    157
  • 4 Stars
    83
  • 3 Stars
    32
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    162
  • 4 Stars
    65
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    145
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    35
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    13

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I have a new favorite narrator!

Any additional comments?

I had no idea that this book was written in the 80s, but it did have an "older" feel to it, in a good way! Have you ever picked up a classic and the contrast to their writing style and today's author's writing styles are completely different? That's the feel this book gives. And add the narrator into it, and you get thrown back to your childhood, when you were sitting in front of your scholarly grandpa, engrossed in his story telling.

I can't add anything that hasn't already been stating in other reviews. 2 guys go to explore America a few years after a nuclear war. They document what they see.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Dated but worth the listen...

Purchased for my prepper brother... I didn't expect to like the book and was surprised how it grew on me. Although the EOTWAWKI via atomic war between US and Russia happened in the late 1980's making the whole piece dated, I found the two writers traveling though the US and doing oral histories with those they met... an interesting way of presenting the varied effects of a nuclear war on the US and its citizens. There are a few boring "reports" which I fast forwarded though and although it isn't an action packed read... I found it thought provoking and very plausible.

While the narration is fine. This is one book where a multi-narrator cast or one who could do a variety of voices would have been helpful. You had to listen closely for transitions to know who was talking.

This book won't go on my "got to listen to again" list... but I am glad I took the time to explore it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not at all what I thought.

Any additional comments?

This was an experience! I thought this was just like any other post apocalyptic book, but it's not. This is told like a documentary and I found it was such a unique way to tell the story but I didn't enjoy it that much. I think it was because I was expecting something totally different and was a little disappointed.

The story is told by 2 writers who travel the US a few years after Warday, to document what life is like now. The idea behind the story is amazing but I just found parts to be telling rather than showing. We get a lot of statistics which I just found tedious and not that necessary. I enjoyed the parts where we get to see what life is like now and thought it was fascinating but all the rest was a little stuffy.

There's not much else I can say about this other than it needs to be read to see. If you go into it with the mindset of it being like a documentary of what happened then I think you will enjoy it more. It's an interesting and unique book and I think I may just try listening to it again in a few months to see if I enjoy it more knowing what I know now!

This wasn't my favourite performance from Kevin Pierce but I can see why he had to narrate it the way he did! The style of the book dictated that it be read like a documentary. I just found it confusing trying to differentiate both characters because the whole book is read in the same tone. Saying that though. he read it really well, his voice was clear and concise and other than the confusion, I had no problem with the performance.

*I received a copy of this in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • NH
  • 08-01-15

Written in the early 1980’s but strangely relevant

War Day is a post nuclear apocalypse written in the early 1980’s that I found strangely relevant in 2015. The premise of War Day is that there has been a nuclear war between the United States and the USSR (remember 1980’s). What is different about this war is it was very limited. Only a few areas of the USA are actually hit. No countries have nuclear hits other than the USA or USSR. Every country though feels the political and economic balance change drastically.

The two main characters, who are not fictional but place themselves in a fictional world, visit the different areas of the country. It contrasts the destitution and need of the areas that were close to the strikes with the areas that essential had no physical effects, no radiation at all. The story is told alternating between the main characters and the people they interview to assess the state of the union five years after War Day.

I read the book when it first came out. I bought the hard back, which four moves later is no longer in my library. I am very much a cold war child and have always been drawn to apocalyptic literature, especially post nuclear. Reading it before the collapse of the USSR and as a 24 year old, it was a great story. Reading it now in a post USSR world as a 52 year old is completely different. The difference comes down to the one “post” I haven’t mentioned: we live in a post 911 world.

I started reading the book simply because I remembered it as a good one and had an opportunity to review the audio version (This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.). As I was reading the book again in 2015 I found parallels to how we as a nation have changed. When the areas unaffected by War Day are discussed, the issue of individual rights vs public protection become very prominent. It really was fascinating to see how the authors saw their fictional world facing limiting personal rights and freedoms to protect what the government perceived as the greater good.

The audio narration is excellent. Mr. Pierce has a very nice voice. He speaks clearly and communicates the emotions the authors created. His narration is a performance. It does not sound as though he is just reading it. It sounds like he studied the book. learned its secrets and then passed them on to the listener. It really is a very good narration. I would definitely listen to another book narrated by Mr. Pierce. I would recommend War Day especially the audio book narrated by Mr. Pierce.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Warday

This was a really good book!Kevin Pierce does a fine job with the materials narration.Warday is an apocolyptic adventure through a landscape that is so familiar to most of us.It was very relevant and rather creepy listening to the stories of devastation caused by an act of terror,yet that phrase was not in the book.The Russians drop bombs of varying sorts on different parts of the USA on 10/28/88.This knocks out all electricity and kills thousands of people and is known as 'Warday'.The 2 main characters are reporters taking a 'walk' through America to see what it has turned into and write about it.It gives one a lot to think about.
This audiobook was provided to me at no cost for a fair and honest review

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Warday Review

This audiobook wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I’m a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, and have read or listened to most of the more popular titles, and I really enjoy most of them, but this one was different. The story takes place in a world that was dramatically changed when the US and the USSR went to war (a brief nuclear exchange) in the 1980’s, centered around two writers that take a journey across our shattered country for the purpose of writing a book. Great premise for this concept.

Some of this audiobook included commentary on the effects of the nuclear blasts and the fallout resulting from the blasts. While this may be a bit dry to some, I found it very interesting and more than a bit frightening. While we are no longer on the brink of war with the USSR (for now anyway), we face a very real possibility of finding ourselves facing an adversary that cares not about the whole “mutual assured destruction doctrine” that kept us from a nuclear holocaust in the 1980’s. We now have enemies that only want us destroyed and are happy to die in the process. We also have leaders with much less grit and wisdom than we did when Regan ran our country (please forgive the political reference).

This book is on the long side (12+ hours), which I generally like in an audio book, but I did find that this bleak view of what could have happen to our country a bit painful to endure. It did hold my interest, and there was hope and beauty in the characters the author introduced, so I kept listening.

I would recommend this book. Well worth a credit, despite the fact that I didn’t spend one on it… (This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant!

Absolutely brilliant account of a time the world came just a bit too close to living, and with the state of current world affairs it could still happen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Powerful Message, Scary Story

The original book was written back in 1984 so the major players (good and bad) are different than if this book was written today.

It’s written very much like (the book) Word War Z; 2 authors, Whitney and Jim, travel across the US and interview people of all walks of life, getting their perspective on the current status of the US, their own lives and just living in general. My only issue with this platform is the narrator, Kevin Pierce, doesn’t change his voice for the different characters, it was very much like reading a book myself instead of listening except it can be confusing keeping track of who is speaking. The author does announce which character is speaking at the beginning of each chapter, but if you don’t start/stop at a chapter, well you get the picture.

I am an apocalypse genre fan, but this book isn’t an apoc story. I say that because in an apocalypse everyone, worldwide, is affected by the disaster, zombies, aliens, the flu etc. But in this book, the devastation is concentrated in certain parts of the US and the USSR – granted the entire US is affected, well the entire world is affected, there are only parts of the US and USSR that are in ruins. What happens within the devastated areas v. the non-devastated within the US is unsettling – how the ‘survivors’ are treated by the officials in the unaffected is disturbing to say the least. And the triage protocol was really thought provoking….

The story starts out with one of the authors riding a bus when a nuclear bomb detonates over Ney York City and gives a very detailed account of the first days in the aftermath of the 36 minute war and as to be expected it’s not pretty – on many levels.
Fast forward 5 years and our protagonists are in Texas getting ready to embark on their quest. The flow of the book is that a few chapters are dedicated to each area they come to it, starting in Texas. San Antonio was a targeted city, there was a new county where El Paseo used to be and the first meeting of a group called Destructrulists happens there is Texas. Our writers realize that this trip may not be as safe as they assumed it was going to be.

The trip continues to California via train (which is the way most people traveled), the new Capitol of the US. Where the boarders are guarded like the DMZ between North and South Korea.

They continue east through the mid-west and then to Chicago and on into New York City.
When the two authors get to NYC it really hits me that although this is just a story with an outcome that is almost unthinkable. This outcome could have come true after 911 if things had gone just a little different. Whitney had lived in NYC for 18 years before Warday and as he sees the city again with his “after it happened’ eyes and he talks of the skyline and talks about seeing the [Twin Towers] at the World Trade Center. As one of the greatest cities in the world, NYC is a gauge of the resilience of the US in general. In this book it’s in ruins and deserted, where in real life the city alive and well, which makes me feel better than I have the entire time I listened to this book. But I can’t forget the way survivors were treated or the way other countries treated the US – scary.

Needless to say this book evoked a lot of different emotions,

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Warday

Any additional comments?

This audiobook is an incredible fictional account of a nuclear attack makes for a compelling story.. The authors, as themselves, head across what's left of the U.S. after a one day nuclear war (hence the title), to interview different people and gather information. This is very realistic, and just a little bit scary. Excellent book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

"We never learned..."

This book is really not a story of two travelers but a self-insertion of how the authors view post-nuclear war US.

Neither is sympathetic. Whitley, who's hiding in a church with his family describes how two children lost both of their parents but "I never learned what became of the Parker girls." Which shows just how self-absorbed he is. His wife isn't very believable either. I mean there was a nuclear attack and she thought of her son but she just so happens to think that she should grab food just in case?

We also hear the refrain, "I/We never learned what happened to ???" Then why bring them into the story?

Since I didn't care about the two authors I didn't care about their tale either.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful